Click here to jump down the full list of grants

One of the biggest shifts in the history of education is underway across the country as rote memorization makes way for deeper learning, standardized tests are replaced by whole-student assessments, and lecture-style classrooms turn into collaborative hands-on learning spaces. Nowhere is this more evident than here in the greater Pittsburgh region.

Today, we are thrilled to announce $400,000 awarded to 66 projects led by local educators and students in the greater Pittsburgh region.

These “micro-grants” provide $2,500 or $7,500 to support new learning opportunities that equip students with deep content knowledge and creative capacities, but also the skills and traits needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Young people today are growing up in a time of rapid social and technological changes. They’re learning how to make sense of the world around them and they’re preparing for a future that is just as exciting as it is uncertain. These grants will help educators provide more young learners with more learning experiences in more equitable ways that spark wonder, compassion, and a sense of belonging and opportunity.

These grants will help more school districts create hands-on learning makerspaces. They’ll help neighborhood organizations support youth leading community health campaigns, litter clean ups, and main street business district revitalizations. They’ll help artists and museum educators create more opportunities for teens to develop physical and digital creativity skills. We can’t wait to see what learning these projects make possible as they get underway this summer and continue into the 2018-2019 school year and beyond.

We received nearly 200 requests for funding from across the greater Pittsburgh region, including Butler, Beaver, and Westmoreland counties, as well as more than 130 in the city of Pittsburgh and surrounding communities of Allegheny County. Guided by our mission, vision, and values, we specifically sought to support equitable learning projects that support learners in poverty, learners of color, learners in rural areas, girls in STEM, and learners with exceptionalities.

The projects supported through the Great Remake build on more than a decade of work undertaken by Remake Learning and its network of more than 500 schools, libraries, museums, nonprofits, and other youth-serving organizations to ensure all learners can access engaging, relevant, and equitable learning experiences designed to help them thrive.

We’re honored to be able to support the community of educators, mentors, youth workers, advocates, organizers, researchers, technologists, community leaders, parents, families, and partners who are committing themselves to creating more engaging, relevant, and equitable learning opportunities for our region’s youth. We thank The Grable Foundation for their generous sponsorship of these grants.

Onward to the great remake!

Funded projects include:

Peacebuilder Institute from 5A Elite Youth Empowerment:Combining human-centered design principles, systems thinking approaches, and political education, 5A Elite will lead social impact labs for 150 youth throughout the city.

My voice. My goals. My needs from A+ Schools: TeenBloc students will interview their peers and create videos and podcasts that illuminate their peers’ goals, the barriers they face in reaching those goals, and targeted support they identify needing to reach their goals.

2018 Creative Camp from ACH Clear Pathways: 2018 camp will be in tribute to Stevie Wonder and the youth will engage in arts programming which focuses on individuals who have disabilities.

Full STEAM Ahead from Albert Gallatin Area School District: Students at Albert Gallatin Area schools use CAD programs to explore design ideas. A 3D printer will allow students to bring their design ideas to life.

Makerspace Transformation from Allegheny Intermediate Unit: Throughout Allegheny, Washington, and Westmoreland counties, state-of-the-art technology will be used to personalize learning experiences for students with exceptionalities and to provide greater support to their teachers.

Hack the Future from Assemble: A pilot program for teen learners to use STEAM-based social justice-oriented opportunities to become leaders.

Learning in Motion from Attack Theatre: Attack Theatre will work with pre-K and Kindergarten students at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (WPSD) exploring non-verbal physical expression of dance and kinesthetic problem-solving in a safe and creative play-based learning environment.

Digital Skills from Auberle: Youth in Auberle’s programs who are part of the summer Digital Skills class will participate in a Google-created course where they will dismantle and reassemble desktop computers.

SHURI Maker Space from Boys and Girls Clubs Western Pennsylvania: The Scientific Hub for Understanding Remaking and Innovating (S.H.U.R.I) will be a themed maker space designed to excite elementary and middle school students by introducing them to the world of robotics.

Project Hand-Trash Cans in Allentown from Brashear Association: The Project HAND Trash Initiative connects youth with neighbors and experts to solve community issues and empower youth to become civic and environmental stewards.

Living to Learn Library Revamp from PPS Brashear: This project will support a design charrette with students, teachers, and community practitioners (architects, designers, artists) to reimagine and revamp the school’s library space teaching students about design, construction, and making with health, equity, sustainability, and beauty as guiding principles.

Youth Media Advocacy Project from Carlow University: YMAP is a partnership between Carlow University and SLB Radio that works with students in a variety of in-school and out-of-school settings to identify, analyze problems (in their schools/ school systems/ community) and then create media to advocate for changes to address the problems.

Summer STEAM from Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls: Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls will partner with Beaver Falls public housing community centers visiting each of the eight centers twice throughout June and July to present a story and STEAM-based activity – this year’s activity will be papermaking and monoprinting.

Summer skills intensive from Carnegie Library and 1Hood: The Labs at Carnegie Library will provide free summer skills intensives, 5-day workshops for rising 6th-12th graders in photojournalism, filmmaking, songwriting and music production, street art creation, or painting.

Igniting Imagination from the Center That Cares: The Center that Cares will initiate STEM-related education and project-based learning for elementary school students in the afterschool program.

Micronaut Coding Challenge from Challenger Learning Center: Micronaut robots program at Laughlin Memorial Chapel.

Run-a-way Reporters from Cornell School District: To promote youth-driven journalism, who students will be outfitted with backpacks containing tools to be mobile reporters.

Nurturing STEM Learning in the Early Childhood World from Derry Area School District: Throughout the 2018-19 school year, Derry Area School District will engage learners ages 2 – 5 years old and their families in STEM activities via their in-home preschool program and will create five opportunities for families to attend STEM-centered Community Storytime Events.

#LarimerAlive from Drafting Dreams: Drafting Dreams will engage students in Master Planning in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Larimer where students will serve as design consultants for the Larimer Consensus Group (LCG), a resident-led grassroots organization of Larimer, and will be responsible for creating a Master Plan for Business Corridor.

EA Wildcat STEM Club from East School District: Students in the East Allegheny school district will engage with real-world problems as they learn how to collaborate and communicate with peers and STEM professionals for the BOTS IQ competition. This support will provide students with tools, technology, and materials to participate fully in the competition.

Lemonade Stand Camp from Flower House: At Flowerhouse Wilkinsburg, this day camp will teach middle school students about entrepreneurship by walking them through the steps to create lemonade stand.

Make it@ Studio Sto-Rox from Focus on Renewal: Teen Studio Sto-Rox is an out-of-school time program for teens in the Sto-Rox communities providing day where each week day students can learn about social justice, digital literacy, culinary arts, making, and/or dance.

Gardening, Writing, and Well-being from Greater Valley Community Services: In collaboration with the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project, Woodland Hill’s students in grades 3 – 8 will engage in planting and maintaining a community garden as part of their writing curriculum.

Green Playces: Braddock Junior Ambassadors from GTECH Strategies: Grounded Strategies uses transformation of vacant land as a tool for youth to examine, question, and bring change to the communities in tangible, impactful ways. In partnership with the Braddock Youth Project, young people will design, plan, and build a vacant lot project in Braddock.

Hip Hop Orchestra from Guardians of Sound: Guardians of Sound will encourage student engagement beyond the week-long camp by using technology for instruction thru a comprehensive music learning support portal with video tutorial lessons, sheet music, music theory, virtual rehearsals, and individual and group online learning enabling the project to support students.

Using the Outside to Build the Inside: Ecology for City Girls from Gwen’s Girls: To make girls aware of the environmental and ecological challenges in their communities and to help them develop skills to understand and address the problems, Gwen’s Girls will engage in research activities that evaluate environmental problems (water, soil, air pollution).

Youth Maker Scholarship Program from Handmade Arcade: Handmade Arcade is Pittsburgh’s largest independent craft fair and will provide scholarships to youth makers ages 16 – 18.

Bridge to DC from Higher Achievement: Higher Achievement partners with the Community Day School to provide a cross-cultural experience with a trip to Washington, DC where students visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

A Grand View of Learning from Highland School District: Highlands School District will equip their students with virtual reality technology to take virtual field trips to places around the world, as well as to create their own virtual worlds.

Youth Poverty Project from Homewood Children’s Village: During the summer, in collaboration with Steeltown Media, youth from Homewood will develop a multimedia project that educates, informs, and activates the broader community about cycles of generational poverty.

The Art of Justice from Hope Academy: Hope Academy will partner with Black Unicorn Library and Archive Project to expand and activate the East LIberty and Justice 4All resource center and create a new interactive component by engaging with three local artists (Alisha Wormsley, Bekezela Mguni, and Max Gonzales) over the course of six months in 2018-2019.

Fashion Fridays from Hosanna House: To encourage girls to engage in playful, student-driven learning in their Wilkinsburg maker space, Hosanna House will implement Fashion Fridays.

Daughters and Sons of Imani Reaching Back from House of Manna: Holistic health, alternative wellness access, and African centered identity infusion must include youth that come from black communities of Pittsburgh. This project aims to usher and guide participants towards the pathways of choosing majors and minors in post-secondary education that completes the social, cultural and health relevant connections that speak to the needs of the communities they come from. A major feature of rites of passage and social emotional learning is to lead the initiate towards becoming an enlightened, cultured, peaceful and healthy person. In today’s world it is incumbent on the story tellers, teachers, leaders, advocates etc. to ring the alarm concerning the crisis that is harming the life force (health) and the self-image challenges that are at the center of girls and boys: fighting, loss of their self-esteem, sadness, anger, stress and loss of interest in life itself. House of Manna, and the Sons and Daughters of Imani Reaching Back value: transformation, love, and community and therefore supports children and youth as the treasures of the community in their stead to be the next generation of leaders, experts, and community servants.

JMHS Coral Reef Ecology from John Marshall High School: To provide students with the ability to observe and engage with a live eco-system in the classroom, John Marshall will create a coral reef learning station for their biology/environmental science classes.

Outdoor Classroom Enhancement from La Escuelita: La Escuelita, a Spanish immersion early learning center will enhance the existing outdoor classroom by adding a nature art easel, mobile natural benches for children and adults, and professional development for staff about the benefits of play-based, student-centered learning.

If I ruled the world from Legacy Arts Projects: If I Ruled the World. By engaging youth in critical thinking about the messages that bombard them via social media, youth will be empowered to create their own social media campaigns entitled “If I Ruled the World.”

Vlog University from Never Fear Being Different (NFBD): Vlog University (VlogU) will prepare a generation of high school aged students from under-resourced/underserved communities in the Pittsburgh region to leverage their unique ability to set trends and influence peers for career opportunities in new media.

Drastic Plastic from New Castle Area School District.

Brown Kids do Ballet from New Sun Rising: Ballet summer intensive for young children in Wilkinsburg.

Let’s Get Digital from Norwin School District.

Interdisciplinary STEM Project-based Learning from Oak Glen Middle School: 5th – 8th grade students will create real-world solutions via technologies – arduino, raspberry pi, rate sensors, and lil bits kits.
Girls Undertaking

Interest in Design Engineering and Science from Penn State Greater Allegheny: Female faculty in STEM fields will lead discussions, hands on activities, and mentoring activities for middle school aged girls with a focus on underserved and underrepresented groups.

STEAM Students and the Community from Penn State New Kensington: high school students from Alle-Kiski Valley, a business rep, and an educator will lead a series of 3 expos to introduce parents, community, members, and teachers to the importance of STEAM learning for all students.

PLAY for all from PGH Playful Collaborative: These activities will demonstrate the importance of play and also highlight key PLAY facts, all while connecting attendees to organizations (PLAYers) who are committed to this inspiration for, education around and awareness of PLAY.

Opera YOUR WAY from Pittsburgh Festival Opera: PFO will partner with Arsenal Middle School in Lawrenceville to provide voice and acting instruction and behind-the-scenes activities that bring performances to life including: set and costume design, lighting and sound, creative writing, digital projection, marketing, etc.

Rural In-School Artists Residencies from Pittsburgh Glass Center: Glass artist Kelly O’Dell will visit to Greene and Washington counties from Oct- Dec to engage with students.

Launching into Nature from Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy: Through Frick Environmental Center, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy will pilot an after-school program for middle schoolers supporting deep place-based engagement in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park.

Technology Infusion for OST Programming from the Pittsburgh Project: Update technology for growth with the robotics team and DREAMlab maker space.

Manchester is Growing Together from Pittsburgh Struggling Student Association: Young practitioners mainly composed of middle school students enrolled at Manchester Public School and Manchester Academic Charter School will plan, engineer, organize and create their own prototype and design the frame for a living wall which is 30′ tall x 30′ wide.

Girls Who Code from Project Destiny: Girls will learn to create mobile apps.

Primary Music Composers Unite from Propel Schools: Students will create music from inception to mastery. Students create their own arrangements and production. Performed during winter music concert. Music, integration, and science educators.

Making Community Classroom Connections from Providence Connections: K-2nd grade Providence Northside and Avonworth primary center will collaborate on creating a new makerspace at Providence and on projects to improve their communities.

Creating Equity among Learners with Exceptionalities from Quaker Valley School District: Working with Center for Creativity and CMU ETC to leverage tech to better support learners with exceptionalities.

English Learners: My Maker Story from Robert Morris University and the Ohio River Consortium: after school maker-club for local English Learners – to create digital stories about their cultures (showcase language, culture, and identities) to be shared with schools and communities.

Brashear Brings you the World from Saturday Light Brigade.

Summer Camp from Springdale Free Library: A week-long summer camp held each month. library-based coding, creative writing, animation for visual storytelling. Question, examine, dissect social systems.

Aya Duafe Arts & Entrepreneurship from Ujamaa Collective: Ujamaa provides activities for Africana girls age 13 and up to develop their pre-professional creative practices while ensuring their development is socially practical and culturally relevant.

Urban Reach Virtual Book Club from Urban Academy Charter School: 3rd-5th grade students participate in a book club with a high quality, culturally relevant grade level text.

ArtEd21: Creative Renaissance from West Jefferson Hills School District: Students will be responsible for reaching designated point totals to earn grades and attain levels which can also “unlock” other materials or creative opportunities.

Art Installation from West Middlesex School District: Designed to connect students to community members in the art world through creation of a professional exhibit on school grounds during 2018-19 school year.

Converting Library Space into Makerspace from West Point Elementary School.

Our Communities, Our History, Our Voices from Woodland Hills School District: Students document their communities and their communities’ history.

Making Noir Pixie Dust from WQED: This support will allow a “Slaying the Future” conference to expose middle school girls from Homewood and throughout the city to African-American women trailblazers in the Maker Movement as well as giving them the opportunity to contemplate how might they address health or beauty concerns affecting African-American women.

Tech Tools from YMCA: As part of the Homewood YMCA’s Y Creator Space, youth ages 9 – 13 will learn to use laser cutting technology from a professional engineer who will lead Tech Tools STEM Studio.

Youth Leaders on Broad Street and Abroad from Youth Enrichment Services: Peer mentorship as a catalyst for organic and contextually relevant social growth for youth and communities. With a year of experience creating and disseminating lead exposure awareness initiatives in their own communities, youth earned funding support from the Allegheny County Health Department.

Virtual Reality and Workforce Readiness from Youth Places: Use VR to expose students to careers in meaningful.